It seems that almost everyday on the news there is a new death mentioned of someone taken far too soon. There are always different stories behind them. In her paper “The Company Man,” Ellen Goodman bitterly addresses the life and death of a man named Phil. Through the use of irony, polysyndetons, and anaphoras, Goodman approaches Phil’s situation with an emotionless and bitter attitude.

Goodman’s use of irony is used to help gain the reader’s attention toward the ironic situations. When it is stated that “in the day and a half before the funeral, [his son] went around the neighborhood researching his father, asking the neighbors what he was like,” the reader can understand the author’s bitter tone. With this information Goodman wants the reader to see how ironic this situation is. Not many people who die have their own kids researching them to see what they are like. Anyone would be bitter at the fact that a dad was too focused on his work that it affected their relationship. It is clear that it wasn’t the son’s fault their relationship went down the drain. Goodman also brings up the time when Phil’s daughter and him were driving and “had nothing to say to each other.” With the authors use of irony it keeps the readers also in tune to of what Phil did wrong with his relationships.

The rhetorical device polysyndeton is used frequently by Goodman to help get her bitter attitude across. When she states “[Phil] had meant much to the company and would be missed and would be hard to replace,” it seems as if she might be coming across as sympathetic, but she turns it around. While stating “Phil was overweight and nervous and worked too hard,” it is evident that these are the author’s opinions unlike the company’s opinions former quote. When someone speaks with a bitter tone it is usually in a negative way and Goodman has shown that here. Using the words “too hard” and “overweight” do not make for a very sympathetic tone. The company will only miss Phil because he was hardworking, but it is evident that Goodman is bitter towards his death because him being a hard worker doesn’t affect her at all.

The authors use of anaphoras throughout her writing makes it obvious to the reader what her opinion over this topic is. Goodman repeats the statements “he worked himself to death…” and there is no sympathy spotted. She refers to Phil as either “he” or “this man” and shows no respect by saying his name. When people are bitter towards another person this same situation is usually true. Another anaphoric statement is “his “dearly beloved” eldest of the “dearly beloved” children…” The author would not have included the quotation marks around “dearly beloved” if she felt the opposite of what the words mean.

The use of irony, polysyndeton statements, and the meaningful repetition makes Goodman’s rhetoric effective. The including of the ironic situations help incline the reader to understand the author’s side. The polysyndetons used make her evidence more clear about Phil’s life. The anaphoric statements help Goodman’s evidence stick in the reader’s head because of the repetition. Because of the examples she uses it makes it hard for any human being to question her bitter attitude.